Panic in UK village as resident chases migrants from home after 11pm | UK | News
There is local opposition to Wethersfield asylum center (Image: PA)
A man living near the refugee shelter said he chased a migrant from near his home. Hundreds of asylum seekers are believed to be staying at the controversial Wethersfield asylum centre, a former RAF base in Essex.
A protest against the facility was held in nearby Braintree on Saturday, while local Conservative MP and former home secretary James Cleverly wrote to ministers seeking “clear and unequivocal assurances” that the facility would be closed and decommissioned as planned next spring. Local resident Jeff said people in the village of Wethersfield did not feel safe. He described how he chased a migrant off his property late at night.
READ MORE: Labor warns about immigration disco at former RAF base: ‘Civil war is looming’
READ MORE: Migrant crisis terror as small boat smugglers try to stone and burn police
Hundreds of refugees remain at former RAF Wethersfield in Essex (Image: Getty)
Speaking to GB News he said: “We caught them in our lane at 5.30am. We are in a private lane.
“I came across a random guy wandering around the garden at midnight.
“We went down, followed him down the road, and then suddenly we saw another person coming out of the bushes.
“You don’t know who’s around, hence the big dog.
“I shouldn’t be stressed about leaving my wife and family here to go to work.”
Footage shared with GB News shows a man believed to be an asylum seeker breaking the 11pm curfew by walking down the lane in the dark.
Jeff answered “no” when asked if people felt safe living near the refugee accommodation at the former RAF Wethersfield.
In a letter to Home Secretary Alex Norris, Mr Cleverly said the site was “creating real problems in the local area”.
He wrote: “House sales have collapsed, new families are not moving into the area, parents are increasingly reluctant to send their children to the local primary school, school enrollments are failing and at risk of closure due to financial impossibility.”
“The negative impact is not just on local communities,” he added.
“Asylum seekers housed on the site are transported to surrounding towns and villages where they have little to do but hang around,” Mr Cleverly said.
“Groups of bored young men are frightening under any circumstances, and local shopkeepers report declining footfall. These developments contribute to increasing tension and division within communities that have already shown considerable patience and cooperation.”
In Braintree, local residents also expressed concerns about the asylum centre.
One man told GB News: “It’s a nightmare. On Wednesday they bring them in by bus and there are loads of them wandering the streets.”
In a statement, the Home Office said: “The government will close all asylum hotels and work is continuing, with more suitable areas such as military bases being highlighted to ease pressure on communities and reduce asylum costs.
“The Wethersfield site provides functional accommodation for asylum seekers and is designed to be self-sufficient.”
